Delivering mechanism.



G. B. EVANS.

' DELIVERING MECHANISM.

APPLICATION FILED MAY s. 19!].

Patented Oct. 23, 1917.

2 SHEETSSHEET I.

G. B. EVANS.

DELIVERING MECHANISM.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 3. Hill. v 1,243,7Q3. Patented Oct. 23,1917,

2 SHEETSSHEET 2.

fnveniar.

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.nntrvnnme MECHANISM.

To aZZ whom it may] concern.

Be it knownthatil, GEORGE B; EVANS, a citizen or the United States, residing at Newton, in the county of -Middlesex and State "of iMass'achusetts, have invented new and useful Improvements in Delivering of being placed in .and guidedby. a 'raceway, and have heads which are exposed and may be "acted upon by the separating. or measuring element of the mechanism in order to separate those articles which are delivered at any one time from other articles which are retained'for' a subsequent delivery. Inasmuch as the machine is designed to deliver a given number'of thearticles or pieces at each operation it may be aptly called a counting mechanism. In order to illustrate the invention 1 have shown a specific embodiment of the same adapted to deliver given quantities or numbers of nails into ,a container, such as .an envelop, whereby the exact number of nails required to attach some particular article to a mounting, such for example as a rubber heel: to a shoe, may be counted off and delivered in connection with the article to be fastened. Such nails are adapted to be supported in an inclined raceway by their heads, which rest on the ledges bounding the raceway, the

shanks of the nails being suspended through the slot betweensuch ledges; and the separating element or member, by which a given quantity of nails is counted off and separated from the balance ofthe nails, is arranged to act in conjunction with the exposed heads of the nails'thus arranged.

It is to be understood that I do not limitthe invention to an apparatus for acting upon nails only, but intend to use'it for counting off and delivering articles. of any sort which have heads so formed as to support the articles in the manner indicated in or ona raceway. Therefore the illustration of the invention in a nail-delivering apparatus, and the use of the term nails in the following specification to designate the articles delivered thereby, are to be understood as being. for illustration only, and not to indi-' Specificaticn'of Letters Patient as to its construction or mode of use, or "the; purposefor which its is used,- than'appears fro'in -the express terms of the appended claims. 1 r The invention consists'ofthe novel ele'- which reference is now directed in connectlOn-WItl1thc d-I aW*1-I1gs. a

F gure 1 shows a srde elevatlon of one Patented 0015.23, 191; Application filed May 3, 1917. semrm; 166,154. J i

' cateany other limitation of theinvention merits and features hereinafterparticu l-arlyl described "and pointedout in the claims; to

form o f my invention adapted to be used for the delivery of nails.

Fig. 2 is a front elevation of -the same as seen from the left of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a plain view.

Figs. 4:, 5, and 6 each shows a' longitudinal 3 central sectionof thedevice-and illustrate the measuring or counting, and nall-releaslng elements of the device in different positions."

Fig. 'Zis a side elevationof a modification of the invention. 1 I

Fig; 8 is a longitudinal central section of the same modification illustrating the parts thereof in a different position from that shownin Fig.7. l

The same reference characters indicate the same parts in all-thejfigures.

Rererrlngfirst' to Figs. .1 to 6 inclusive,

11 represents the frame of an inclined race- Way which is provided with ledges 12 and 13 arranged inparallel with a slot orpassageway labetween them. This is a conventional illustratiouof such racewayasis? common in nailing machines; I donot claim as any p art of my invention 1 any -=1mprovement or modification in the raceway itselft'f wherefore-any type or form of raceway here"-- narily provided with a hopper of some sort containlng the nails and by whlch the same are lifted automatically and placed prop- I toforeused may be employedfor this ele 1 erly in theracew-ay so as to hang by their F heads on the ledges" 12 and 13 with their shanks passing through the slot 14." As hoppers, nail lifters and. other de'vices'for feed ingnails into and properly placing them. in a raceway are common and well known, I have not deemed it necessary to'show any form of. such appliance in these drawings;

It is sufficientfor m purpose that it b llltl the spout to hold open the mouth of the envelop while the nails are being discharged thereinto, the position of the envelop when receiving the nails being indicatedby broken lines at 17- in Fig. 8. This part also is no part of my invention but is illustrative merely of a guide for conducting the delivered. nails to the receiver. It is attached in any convenient way at the end of the raceway below that part thereof which supports and guides the nails. A guard 18 is located below the path in which the nails travel and extends from the raceway end; into the spout, its

purpose being to overlie certain operating parts'hereinafter described and prevent the delivered nails from falling upon the same or from being arrested on their way to the spout.

At the end of the raceway is agate 19 which normally closes the end of the slot 141. It is provided with guideways 20 (Figs. 2 and 3) which contain ribs 21 which are mounted upon or attached to the raceway frame in any convenient manner and are arranged so that the gate may slideup and down between the extreme positions shown in Fig. 4: and in Fig. 6'respectively, in one of which it closes the passage of the raceway, and in the other of which it is raised above the raceway far enough to permit the nails to pass under it. Said gate is formed as the upper transverse member of a substantially rectangular frame which has side members 22, 22 and a transverse bottom member 23 embracing a central vertically elongated opening 24. The side members 22 of this frame are the parts which contain the guide grooves 20 and are engaged with the guiding ribs. A lever 25 is pivoted to the raceway frame on a stud 26, and extends over and bears upon the upper side of the member 23. This lever has a short arm or finger 27 which is engaged with one end of the spring 28, the other end of which is attached to the raceway frame. The function of the spring 28 is to hold the gate in its lowered position, shown in Fig. 1-, wherein it closes the end of the raceway, said spring being capable of yielding when superior force is applied to raise the gate.

The frame which carries or forms part of the gate has wings 29 at each side which bear upon arms .30, 31 fixed to a rock shaft :32 mounted in a bearing in the raceway frame and extending to opposite sides of the same. The arm 30 is provided with an extension 33 having a guide portion 3 1 on which is adjustably mounted a stop 35, said stop being in the form of a finger having a slotted body 36 which embraces the guide 34:

and is provided with a set screw 37 adapted .l

to exert, pressure against the guide and thereby to clamp the finger in any one of numerous positions of adjustment. If desired the arm 31 may be like the arm 30, that is having a similar extension and guide, and u be supported at one end only as act symmetrically on opposite sides of the bearing of the latter, so that when the shaft is rocked by movement of the gate, as hereinaftcr described, the shaft will remain in the desired relatlon wlth its axis extending always in the same direction.

In other words the forces thus applied will not have any tendency to tilt the shaft in any direction, whether up and down or forward and back. The stop 35, or that portion thereof which overlies the slot in the raceway, is I formed with a narrow edge 38 adjacent to the line in which the nail heads lie. Springs 7 39 and 40 are connected to the arms 30, 31 respectively and to the raceway frame. The

point in connection 11 of these springs with 1 the arms-1s above the rock shaft, and the springs are otherwise located and under such stress as to exert force away from the adjacent raceway end, that is, to the right with respect to the illustration in the drawings. These springs, however, archght and weak as compared with the spring 28.

The bearing for the rock shaft 32 is wider than the rock shaft, as is clearly by dotted lines in Fig. 1. The simplest form of this bearing is a hole 12 in the raceway frame through which the shaft passes, said shown in the sectional views and is indicated hole being widened on one side in such man ner that its ma or diameter extends preferably on a slant downward toward the delivery end of the raceway. This feature of the hearing has a function 111 connection with the disparity in power between the spring 28 and the springs 39 and 40, which will presently be described and explained.

In the embodiment shown in Figs. 1 to 6 the spout 15 is mounted directly on the fran'ze which includes the gate, and is used to operate the gate. Thus the operator, in

delivering a number of nails into an envelop,

places the envelop over the end of the spout,

and the latter, thus ralsing the gate.-

is above the line ofn'ail heads in the position shown in Fig. 4. The first partof the gate frame movement partially relieves the arms of the pressure applied thereto by the wings 29, allowing said'arms to be :turned-by'the action of the light springs 39 and 4L0 until the stop 38 arrives in the pos itio'n shown in Fig. 5, when it rests'on' the-head of'one of the nails,'and its weight is supportedt hereby. This point is reached before the gate has risen high enough to release the nails immediately back of it. The further rise of the gate to the position shown in Fig.

6 removes the pressure ofthe wings 29 entirely from the arms 30, 31, leaying'the latter and the connecting rockjshaft free to be moved-bodily. The springs 39 and 40 now shift these members as far as permitted by x the excess in width of the' bearing 42 over the diameter of the rock shaft BQythereby shifting the rock shaft from the forward side to the rear side of the bearing, as illustrated by comparison of Figs. 5 and 6. This movement causes a rearward shiftingof the stop35, whereby it passes from the'position where it first engagedthe=headof one nail, toa position close to the forward edge of the headof the next nail. Thereby the stop is positioned to hold back all of the nails lying in back of it, and-motto arrest any of the'nails in front .of-its knife edge 88. Thus when thef-gate rises clearof :the race,- way, all of the nails infront of the-stop are released and a-re allowed to slide' forward until' they fall into the spoutand are guided thereby into the envelop "or other container 17 In falling from theforward end of the raceway the nails strike the guard strip 1.8 and are guided thereby over the '1 lever 25 and the'bottom member 2310f the gate frame so that they do not strike and are not caught by or between these parts and the raceway frame.

'lVhenthechar-ge of nails has beendelivere'd and the envelop removed from the spout, the release 'of f the :latter permits the spring 28' to ret-urn'the gate into the closed position. Before reachingthis position the wings 29 engage the varms'f O, 31;and, in theremainder of the movement of the gate frame, swing the arms downward. and raise the stop 35, at the same time shifting'the armsand the rock shaft-r32 1 forward to the forward limit offthe' bearing 42.

The-modification shown in -Figs. 7 and-:8 di'lfers from thatxabove described in this particular only, that the spout is secured to 1 the racewayframe, and the: movement of the-gate is .efiected hyta bellerank lever hay-- I parts;

ing a: handle portion 43- and a jaw portion 2 i 44 which-embraces the-bottom member of the; I

gate frame. This lever is provided with a' finger d5 'to whichaspring 4:6, correspondmg to the spring 28, 1s connected, and it also has-1a stop finger 417 adaptedto bear against part of the raceway frame and limit the movement'given :to'the lever by said spring. a This lever-4.3, 44c. perfermsexactly the same function as'the lever 25, with the additional function (of serving asa means for elevating the gate and thereby operatingthe delivery apparatus. In allotherrespects this form of theapparatus is identicalwith that previ ously described, and the same reference characters are applied-to the, corresponding A feature of particular value and utility in both-r illustrated forms of the invention, and one which I particularlyclaim, is the provision of means for causing or permit-- tln a rearward"movement". lOOClll of the 6 stop after the same' has first come into engagement wlth one of the nails. The reason and purpose for such movement 1s th1s.

Headedfastenings suchas nails always occupy a pos1t1on 1n anmclmed raceway with their headsoverlapping, as indicatedin the drawings. When a number of'pieces, more than one, are required to be dellvered at onetime andparticularly provision for adus-tment 1s reoulred whereby any number way and capable of enteringbetween the exposedparts'of adjacent pieces, thatis between .the-exposed, heads thereof. Now on account of the overlappingrelation of these heads it-is impossible by means of a simple 7 motionto bring a stop or separator between the-adjacent-nails in such a manner that it will inwiall' cases, without regard to the number ofn-ails counted off, and without fail,

,110; cause to be delivered ex-actlythe correct designated'numb'er. -,The feature which I; am now explaining assures the dellvery of the correctnun'iberf always JWIthOUt fall, whatever that number may be, by reason of thecompound movement which is given 130113..

Thefirst' movement of the stop is into the position shown in Fig. 5,-and takes place more or less abruptlytoward the. line ofthe;

racewayin front of the foremost nail of the group of. nails tobewithheld. But in order that it may be in frontof this nail it must j be directly over the last nail of the group} to be,- delivered, and in any case can not be more than a very short distance back of they center :ofthat nail. Thus if the movement,

of'the step should. cease-at this point, it

would hear on the nail-and would be liable to hold it so that it would not be delivered;

. yet it could not be depended iipx ui toy-hold at Lees me to a position directly in front of the next nail and therefore almost clear of the nail over which 1t lay at first, or at least over no more than the extreme back edge of the head, where it will not have any effect in holding back that nail. At the same time that the stop is thus carried backward, it is also brought near r to the plane of the raceway, and so near that it will not permit the nail in back of it to'pass beneath it.

An abutment stS is provided on the side of the raceway under the arm extension 33 and limits the movement of the latter so that the stop need not actually come into contact with the raceway.

The adjustment provided for the stop 35 enables the same to be set to'deliver any number of nails from two up to the limit imposed by the length of the extension 33, and the peculiar manner of movement of the stop insures that it will deliver exactly the same number at every operation as long as it is'retained in one setting. This is the principal advantage of my machine, that it will deliver the same number of pieces at every operation. I do not limit the invention to the precise'means herein shown and described for providing the peculiar character of motion to the stop which makes this result possible, as the details of the various parts may be modified in various ways. Thus I include within the scope of protection which I claim herein, any means of mounting and operating the stop, or the equivalent of the stop, whereby to produce a combination ofmovements thereof first toward the raceway over the head of a nail and then backward toward the next nail to the rear.

The terms hereinbefore used indicating relative positions are used descriptively and without limiting significance otherwise than as the use of a gravity feed raceway imparts a special significance to words indicating relation or difference of height. In particular the words front and back and words of like import have been used without intention of limiting the invention in any wise to the particular embodiment here shown. In using these terms the end of the raceway from which the nails are delivered is considered the front end and the terms have therefore only this significance.

What Iclaim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. An apparatus for delivering a specified number of articles comprising a guideway on which such articles are arranged in line,

a gate-for arresting the .endmost article of such line, a stop normally at one side of such line but adapted to be'advanced so as to arrest one of the articles at a dlstance from the end of the llne and means for lving toward the line of articles and then in a di-- rection away from the front end of such line.

2. A' delivering mechanism comprising a raceway,a gate at the end of said raceway mounted so asto be shifted between the position wherein it covers the discharge end of the raceway and a position in which it uncovers such end, a stop mounted over .the raceway, an arm carrying said stop, the arm and gate having inter-engaging portions .bV" which the stop is withdrawn from the race way when the gate is closed, and a yielding means for shifting the stop toward theraceway whenthe gate is open.

3. A delivering mechanism comprising a raceway, a gate at the end of said raceway mounted so as to be shifted between the po-i sition wherein it covers the discharge end of the raceway and a position in which it uncovers such end, a stop mounted over the raceway, an arm carryingsaid stop, the arm and gate having interengaging portions by which the stop is withdrawn from the raceway when the gate is closed, a resilient means for shifting the stop toward the race way when the gate is open, and a spring arranged to exert force on said gate tending to close the same, said spring being of greater power than said resilient means.

4. The combination with a raceway adapt- 7 ed to support the heads of nails and similar headed pieces, a gate arranged adjacent to the end of'saidraceway movable into positions wherein it respectively closes and opens the outlet from the raceway, a spring arranged to exert force on said gate tending to close the same, an arm pivoted beside the raceway having an extension, a stop carried by said extension and overlylng the raceway so that the articles travellng along the raceway pass under the same, said gate and arm having interengaging portions arranged to cause displacement of said stop from the carried by said arm and extending Over the 7 movements to said stop in the direction first raceway, said arm being movable both pivotally and also bodily toward and away from the raceway end, and the stop being arranged so that the pivotal motion of said arm causes it to approach and recede from the nail-supporting part of the raceway respectively, said gate and arm having interengaging portions arranged to cause movement of the arm'toward the raceway end and displacement of the stop from the nailsupporting part of the raceway when the gate is closed, and yielding means for causing opposite pivotal and translatory movements of the arm when the gate is opened.

6. A nail-delivering mechanism comprising a raceway having ledges to support the heads of nails and a slot to receive the shanks of such nails, an arm pivotally mounted beside the raceway and being movable bodily with respect to its pivotal axis toward and away from the raceway end, a

stop carried by said arm and being movable by the oscillations thereof toward and away from said raceway ledges, a gate normallycovering the end of the raceway and having a part engaged with a part of said arm holding the latter advanced toward the end of the raceway and the stop withdrawn from the raceway ledges, said gate being shiftable into a position where it uncovers the raceway end to permit discharge of nails therefrom, and the engaging portions of the gate and arm being then disengaged, and a spring arranged to exert force on said arm tending also to withdraw the same from the raceway end and to turn it so that the stop is brought toward the raceway ledges.

7. A naiLdelivering apparatus comprising an inclined raceway having led es for supporting the heads, and a slot ceiving the shanks, of nails, a vertically movable gate arranged in front of the lower end of said raceway and across the slot to arrest the nails in the raceway, an arm pivotally mounted at one side of the raceway, a stop carried by the arm overlying the raceway, said gate having a wing engaging the arm and holding the same so that the stop is elevated when the gate isclosed, said gate being adapted to be raised so as to release the nails and being thereby caused to, H

release the arm, and a spring acting on said arm tending to turn the same so that the stop is brought toward the raceway edges,- the pivot axis of said arm being also shift- 7 able at the same time away from the raceway end. 7 V

In testimony whereof I have aflixed my signature.

GEORGE B. EVANS.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. G. 

